“In making for ourselves a place to live, we first spread a parasol to throw a
shadow on the earth, and in the pale light of the shadow we put together
a house.”
Jun’ichirō Tanizaki
In the mountains of Western Messinia in Greece, just a few kilometers from the coast, a family asked us to design a vacation house in the same area where the husband had spent his childhood years. They listed their everyday needs and habits, giving us an intriguing challenge; to elevate the main level of the house towards achieving an unobstructed view, whilealso maintaining an immense relationship with the landscape and surrounding nature.
Dealing with the wilderness of the Mediterranean, the provincial Greek countryside, and the heterogeneous aesthetics of the few surrounding buildings, this synthesis explores how a vacation house could be designed in continuation of the Mediterranean landscape. The exploration of this fragile balance is connected with the long-term research within our office on the boundaries. In this case, the boundary between domestic space and landscape is expanded to accommodate within the areas of the house. A series of dwelling rooms are organized around a small part of the wild nature, occupying a small parcel out of a vast territory and creating an enclosed courtyard of serenity and contemplation.
In the synthetical process, the abstract type of square, as a layout that historically signifies the idea of enclosure, dwelling and togetherness was decisive. Its enigmatic simplicity and the monotonous repetition of its four equal sides adjusted to the functional needs of a contemporary vacation house in the Mediterranean landscape. In the western boundary of the atrium, all the public living areas of the house are placed in direct relationship to the inner courtyard. On the opposite end, in the eastern part of the composition, the three master bedrooms of the house are placed next to one another. Towards the northern part of the square, a continuous wall recedes and creates a shady gallery that highlights the house’s main entrance. At the same time, it facilitates gracely all its necessary ancillary spaces. A generous semi-outdoor cantilever space is proposed in the southern part of the square, framing the view of the sea and the Mediterranean landscape, an essential shaded space in continuation to the atrium courtyard.
Architects: Alkiviadis Pyliotis, Konstantinos Pyliotis, Panayiota Kyriakou 3D Visualization: blankwall.avs Interior Design: Andreas Petropoulos Mechanical Engineer Consultant: Sourilas Konstantinos (KNS engineering consultants), Sculptor of Marble Model: Dousis Marble (Konstantinos Dousis, Panagiotis Vasilakis, Nikolaos Doulos) Location: Messenia, Greece Area: 220 m^2 Project Year: 2021 Project Type: Commission